A US woman who shot and killed her husband and two adult children before taking her own life is thought to have committed the shocking crime as a result of being ostracised from the religion she was raised in.

A federal judge sentenced a former Arkansas judge Wednesday to five years in prison — a stiffer punishment than prosecutors recommended — after he admitted giving young male defendants lighter sentences in return for personal benefits that included sexual favours.

Every time I tell a mate I’m doing a story on cryptocurrency, they invariably ask me the same two questions: should they invest their own hard-earned money, and which cryptocurrency will get them a Lamborghini/yacht/island quickest?

In a 60 Minutes online exclusive, reporter Liz Hayes quizzed Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on his relationship with the unpredictable Twitter aficionado and US president Donald Trump ahead of their meeting at the White House Friday.

Filmmaker Michael Moore is taking a stand against his state government, which has vowed to block Syrian refugees from entering Michigan, announcing he will be opening up his apartment as a safe haven to refugees anyway.

In an open letter to Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, Moore accused the politician of being un-America.

“I just wanted to let you know that, contrary to your declaration of denying Syrian refugees a home in our state of Michigan, I myself am going to defy your ban and will offer MY home in Traverse City, Michigan, to those very Syrian refugees you've decided to keep out,” he wrote.

Governor Snyder is one of around two dozen state leaders who claim they will refuse entry to Syrian refugees, however, the authority to accept refugees actually lies with the federal government alone, the Huffington Post reports.

Up to 10,000 Syrian refugees are being accepted into the US a year under the Obama administration, the entry process takes 18 – 24 months, a system Moore declared “unacceptable”.

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He claimed he wrote to Secretary of State John Kerry, imploring him to speed up the process.

Moore has also set up a website allowing other people who are able to house refugees to offer up their homes.

“I'm asking anyone who can, anyone who has spare rooms in their homes or an empty apartment, cottage, or whatever, to make it available for Syrian and Iraqi refugees for between six months and a year while they're being settled in the US,” he wrote.

“If you can do this, would you please sign up on the #MyHomeIsOpen registry.”